Dualit 2-Slice Toaster, Red

My Dualit however sits proudly among an array of kitchen goodies - deserving of the ultimate accolade - a socket from which it is never unplugged. Cappuccino machines may be there for display only, kettles may be plugged in and out but few are the appliances that are given their own `personal' socket. It looks great. Retro 50s chrome with just a hint of Italy about its styling, just a touch of Latin eccentricity around its lock and load mechanism. If this were a car it would be a classic Alfa Romeo - neat, good to look at fast, fast and surprisingly practical come the weekend.

Features - well there are a few. I went for the 28mm slots - which basically means it takes the thick wedges of bread that cut for myself every day and swallows them with a reassuring thunk. I didn't go for the energy saving `black heat' option - mainly because black and toast sit together badly in my breakfast vocabulary. I'm sure it works though. There's no `pop up' to terrify my somewhat skittish cats either. The toast stays in the machine until you decide to take it out. Great for those who like to use the two minute toasting time to do something else - whatever that may be. Perhaps I'm odd but I tend to find myself out of the kitchen whenever toast is ready. Maybe the designers had the same problem.

Rather a long review for rather a simple item then - but I do love it in a way that perhaps too strong. It looks great, is a model of reliability and serves up comfort food whenever the rain lashes at the windows and a DVD flickers into life on my TV. It's a great toaster - you should have one.